Christian Practices Flashcards
What is worship
Showing love to god through different ways
What is prayer
A communication with god
What is liturgical worship
Worship that has a set-structure, led by a priest
What is non-liturgical worship
Worship without a set structure, more personal
What is a sacrament
A ceremony through which the person receives god’s grace or blessing
What is the great commission
Jesus told his disciples to go and spread Christianity
What is evangelism
Spreading Christianity by public preaching eg. Door knocking
What is persecution
Being harmed or killed for religion, political reasons or ethnicity
What is a mission
Christians must go and spread Christianity
What is reconciliation
Mending broken relationships
Details of liturgical worship
- worship services that follow a set pattern and order, usually including a focus on the sacrament of the Eucharist
- led by a priest/vicar
- the sacrament of the Eucharist (holy communion), the most important act of worship in liturgical worship provides the focus for service
What Christian denomination follows liturgical worship
Catholics
Strengths of liturgical worship
- are structure in any church so anyone can join in
- vicar/priest are important so help teach Christians
Weaknesses of liturgical worship
Not very personal
Details of non-liturgical worship
- worship services that have less set patterns and structures, usually including a focus on scripture readings and a sermon
What Christian denomination follows non liturgical worship
Baptist
Strengths of non liturgical worship
- more personal to the congregation
- focussed on scripture which is word of god
Weakness of non liturgical worship
Not always led by a priest so it may not be as important
Details of informal worship
- worship services with a strong focus on spontaneous prayer
- no set structure
- no specific leader required
- often a focus on the Holy Spirit
What Christian denomination follows informal worship
Quakers
Strengths of informal worship
- very personal as people wait for the Holy Spirit to take over them
Weakness of informal worship
- not many denominations follow this as its too flexible
4 types of prayer
Confession
Adorations
Thanksgiving
Supplication
What is confession
Praying for gods forgiveness
What is adoration
Praising/ worshipping god
What is thanksgiving
Thanking god
What is supplication
Praying for gods help
Why is the Lord’s Prayer important to Christians
- they believe the Lord’s Prayer is one of the most central prayers of their faith
- it tells Christians how to forgive others, ask for help and praise god; 3 fundamental beliefs in Christianity
- Jesus taught it to his disciples and so Christian’s follow in Jesus’ footsteps when they recite the words of the prayer
Why is prayer important
- allows Christian’s to ask for forgiveness from god
- ask for help and praise guidance from god
- give thanks to god for giving Christian’s the world
- praying in public it’s important for building a community of Christian’s who support each other
- praying as a group ca also help guide them to a shared goal eg. Spreading the word
- Jesus and his disciples prayed together so Christian’s are following his footsteps
7 sacraments in Catholicism
- anointing of the sick
- baptism
- confirmation
- holy Eucharist
- holy matrimony
- holy orders
- reconciliation
Where did baptism start
- Jesus was baptised by John in the river Jordan and Christian’s think they should do the same
- after jesus was baptised, he began preaching, performing miracles, healing and teaching the people about god.
- baptism allows Christian’s to begin sharing and teaching other people about the religion
What is baptism
Exerting a religion by cleansing your sins
What is infant baptism
- baptism is done on a baby, where the parents choose for this happen
- godparents are given, who promise to guide them child in faith
Symbols in baptism
- Water to wash away sin
- White clothes to represent purity
- Oils to repel evil
- Baptismal candle lit to represent Jesus is always with you
What is believer baptism
- baptism on older people who choose to be baptised
- they make a declaration t be forgiven and start a new life
- they are submerged under water to represent washing away their old life and starting a new Christian life
Believers baptism is better than infants
- the person chooses to make the commitment
- they start their life fresh once they have confessed their sins
Infants baptism is better than believers
- infant baptism removes the original sin so they are pure from a young age
- having godparents makes sure the person has good role models and can learn about Christianity
What is the Eucharist
Sacrament where Christian’s receive bread and win to remember jesus last supper and his death
What do the bread and wine represent in the Eucharist
- the wine represents his blood that he sacrificed when he died
- the bread represents his body he sacrificed when he died
- by eating an drinking these as a congregation they are sharing in remembering that jesus died for the sins of humanity and he was innocent
Why is the Eucharist important to Christian
- transubstantiation: people become an active part of his death
- consubstantiation: helps Christina’s reflect on Jesus’ sacrifice and think about how they can change their life to follow jesus
What is transubstantiation
- catholics believe this
- it means the bread and wine actually transform into the body and blood of jesus during this ceremony
- people become an active part of his death
What is consubstantiation
- CofE believe this
- where the bread and wine are only symbols of jesus’ death
- it does not turn into the body or blood but helps Christian’s remember his sacrifice and think about they can change their life to follow jesus
Why is Christmas/incarnation important
- xmas the time when god came to earth in human form
- jesus is the word of god, he shows people how to live and delivers gods message to the world
- demonstrates god’s power
- demonstrates god’s love for humanity
- without Christmas there would be no jesus, there would be no salvation for humanity
- Jesus’ humble birth demonstrates the Christian believe this that everyone in society is importance and equal: Jesus was born to deprived parents and seen first by poor shepherds -to God these people are just as worthy, maybe more so, of his message than the priests and the kings of the world
How to Christian’s prepare for Christmas
- preparation for Christmas is called advent
- they prepare spiritually by increasing prayer, think about helping others as that is what Jesus told them o do and strengthen their faith
- take part in nativity plays, give gifts to remind them of the joyful message of the incarnation
Advent wreath
- 1st candle represents hope
- 2nd candle represents joy
- 3rd candle is pink and represents love
- 4th candle represents peace
- 5th candle is white and lit of Christmas Day which epresents Jesus’ birth
Order of Easter week
- Palm Sunday: Jesus comes to Jerusalem. The people welcome him and believe he is a great leader sent from God, this angers the roman and jewish authorities, ultimately leading to his death
- Holy Thursday: the day of the last supper and Jesus’ arrest
- Good Friday: the day of of Jesus’ death on the cross
- Easter Sunday: the day of Jesus’ resurrection
What do Christian’s do on Ash Wednesday
- catholics mark their heads with ashes with a cross symbol, to represent the death of sin during lent
How to Christian’s prepare for Easter
Lent= 40 days leading up Easter:
- lent starts on Ash Wednesday
- Christian’s use lent as a time to evaluate their life, pray for forgiven and change their actions to ensure they are following Jesus’ teachings
- during lent: Christian’s pray and fast and give to charity
Why was Jesus’ death important to Christian’s
- Christian’s believe that there is a lot of evil in the world- mostly caused by humans when we do things wrong
- our wrongdoings ruin our relationships with others, our planet, and our relationship with God
- the separation between God and humanity is so great that it would take a phenomenal act of atonement to make up for it
- Jesus offered his life as a sacrifice in order to make up for all the sins of all humans, past and future
- Jesus’ death therefore bought salvation- it saved humanity from its own sinful ways
Why was Jesus’ resurrection important to Christian’s
- breaks the cycle of sin and death - it shows that death has been defeated and is no longer eternal
- gives Christian’s hope that their own death will not be the end either
- proves that Jesus is so he says he is - God
- demonstrates God’s/ Jesus’ power
- begins the Christian’s religion: without this event Christianity would probably not have spread an grown in the way that it did
How to Christian’s remember Good Friday
- Stations of the cross: displayed in all Catholic Churches and many CofE churches as well. People walk around the church, stopping to pray at each stage of Jesus’ journey towards his death. It’s like a personal pilgrimage
- Re-enactment of the crucifixion: Jesus’ journey towards the cross is re-enacted in towns, churches, cities across the country. Helps Christian’s feel closer to what happened
- Fast: on good Friday to show gratitude to Jesus
- Attend a church service at 3 pm when Jesus died
What does the church do
- provides a place for community to meet, worship and pray
- provide spiritual guidance
- hold prayer meetings
- support the community with youth groups, toddler groups and Sunday school
What is agape
Agape love means love for all people, selfless and unconditional love
What is active faith
Need to put your faith into action eg. Helping others, otherwise it is meaningless
Why does church help local communities
- agape
- active faith
Street pastors
- trained volunteers who patrol streets usually at night to help vulnerable people
- they can give water or sweets to drink people, give blankets to homeless
- they don’t preach - they simply help those in need
- because of agape and active faith
Food banks
- a place where food and essentials are collected and donated free of charge to people in need
- Christians will donate to food banks to show agape t those in need
- in the parable o sheep and goat, Jesus taught his followers to help vulnerable people in need
Parish nursing
- a Christian charity which supports whole person healthcare through the local church
INCLUDES: - diagnosing early signs of health problems
- help alleviate loneliness
- they encourage healthy living through exercise and a healthy diet, and provide education an health advice
- they will listen to problems
Why does the church try to tackle poverty
- follow the example of Jesus who worked to help those in poverty
- Jesus taught to look out for those less fortunate than you
- there are lots of teachings in the bible about helping those in need. We are all equal in eyes of God and should show agape
The parable of the Good Samaritan
- ma was left for dead on the street
- 2 jewish leaders ignored the man but a Samaritan (who was an enemy of the injured man) stopped to help the ma
- the Samaritan took him to an inn and offered to pay for his treatment until he was better
What is CAFOD
- works to fight poverty and injustice around the world
- works through churches in places that have suffered natural disasters, aiming to give people the skills to help themselves
How does CAFOD help
- raise awareness an money
- they campaign against injustice
What is Christian aid
- set up after WW2 to help refugees in Europe
- it now works in disaster zones around the world
How does Christian aid help
- raise money and awareness of key issues around the world t end poverty
- Gaza conflict: raising awareness and wanting votes for a ceasefire
- provide clean water, food and emergency supplies to the poor around the world world
Why do Christian’s get involved in evangelism and missionary work
- share their joy of the religion with other people
- encourage people to join so they can be saved (salvation) in heaven
- bible teaches Christian’s to actively spread their religion to others
How does CofE evangelise today
- they can do it by “ living openly as a Christian so they can witness faith in action “ - Archbishop of Canterbury
How do catholics evangelise today
- can be done by living a good Christian life rather than preaching in public
How to Jehovah witnesses evangelise today
- approach people and actively seek to convert others
Alpha course
- evangelism
- course aimed at helping Christian’s an non Christian’s learn about the religion
Gideons
- evangelism
- go into schools, hospital, hotels and communities to give out free copies of the bible (little red bibles)
Key facts about Christian persecution
- 80% of all acts of religious discrimination are directed to Christians
- 2019: church was bombed in Sri Lanka on easte sunday to try and destroy the religion
- 2019: increasing persecution of christians in china by shutting churches, removing flags or jailed for being an outspoken pastor
- high rates of persecution in North Korea, Libya and Iran
Examples of Christian persecution
- making christians pay higher taxes
- attacking churches
- burning bibles
- forbidding the religion in the country
- forcing people to convert to other religions
Positive response to persecution
- St Paul said you should never respond to persecution with violence but overcome it with peace and love
- persecution may help make faith stronger
- feel more connected to Jesus as he overcame persecution, so can they
- church can grow after persecution as people realise the church is innocent and want to support them
Negative response to negative response
- if one Christian suffers then all christians should feel their pain
- it causes pain and suffering to those going through it
Barbabus aid
- help against persecution
- provide emergency supplies like food parcels to christians in need
- help pay fro school fees for persecuted Christians
- building churches after bombing/attacks
Christian solidarity worldwide
- help against persecution
- raising awareness of human rights for religious freedom
- train politicians, activists and journalists to advocate for social justice
Why does christians work for reconciliation
- the church has a role to restore people’s relationships with God and one another
- if we expect God to forgive us, we should forgive others
- Jesus forgave his persecutors on the cross
- christians believe that if someone repents for their sins, they will be shown mercy
2 reconciliation groups
- corrymeela community: have support groups to help people work together and reflect on their experiences
- community of the cross of nails
Why do people go on pilgrimage
- become closer to God
- strengthen their faith
- express sorrow for their sins/seek forgiveness
- reflect on their life
- pray for something particular
- meet other members of their faith
- experience a holy place
- seek a cure for an illness
Lourdes
- mainly catholics go
- informal worship
- people light candles at the grotto to show respect and love for Mary
- praying at the rosary: a special prayer for Mary
- prayer processions to where Mary appeared
Reasons to attend Lourdes
- in 1858, Bernadette a 14 year old girl has 18 visions of Mary. Mary told Bernadette to dig where she was standing, and a spring of fresh water came up out of the earth - people think this water can cure illness
- people think they can receive mental or physical healing from the water
- experience a miracle
- pray with the community
- develop a deeper connection to Mary
Iona
- any denomination goes
- ecumenical worship: no one style of worship or denomination but use traditions from all groups
EXAMPLES OF WHAT HAPPENS HERE: - visiting the abbey whee the original monastery was
- hikes around the island
- meditation, bible readings, Eucharist
- time of private reflection and prayer
- working as a community to feed and do chores while staying there
Reasons to attend Iona
- Columba (a Christian traveller) arrived in Iona and set up a monastery to teach about Christianity
- considered the birthplace of Christianity in Britain
